Monday, 5 October 2009

How to hack up a Pickle

So we're in Manchester for the Conservative party conference and so far all the talk has been about Europe but more about that in a little while. Before that it's worth noting the journalists reception last night in the Midland hotel if only for the fact that hacks can prove to be terribly immature, even really really respectable ones.

Take the moment when Conservative party chairman Eric - if you're a Lib Dem come home to the Conservatives - Pickles stood up to welcome the press to the Conservative party conference. The speech was, to put it mildly, a shambles. And it didn't take long for the assembled great and good of the fourth estate to get well and truly bored. All of a sudden a mobile phone was heard to go off, a second or two later another, then another and soon we were being treated to the dulcet ring tones of, well, quite a few mobiles, with several journalists looking around trying desperately not to fall into a fit of the giggles.

Fortunately, Mr Pickles realised he wasn't getting very far and wrapped up as quickly a possible to a, well I wouldn't call it applause more of a trickle of people clapping out of politeness while others were making a noise that could probably best be described as somewhere between and cheer and a jeer.

And then it was all over and everyone got back to doing what they did best, ignoring the elephant in the room and talking to each other.